A British invention in camera design that makes it possible to shoot video or capture a single moment could herald the end of conventional photography.

If successfully developed, it could turn separate video and still cameras into technological relics.

At present, single frames of a piece of video footage can be “grabbed,” but the quality is always poor.

The new technology allows one camera to do the jobs of both video and still photography with equal ease.

It works by effectively turning small groups of light-sensitive ''pixels'' into tiny individual cameras that take a sequence of pictures at high speed.

The pixel groups are evenly distributed, and the whole of one sequence lasts as long as it takes to take a ''normal'' snapshot.

The user then has two choices. Either all the ''mini-pictures'' captured by the pixel groups can be displayed together as one high-resolution image, or they can be ''played'' one after the other as a movie.

Researchers who tested the concept believe it could have a multitude of applications in industry, science, security systems, the media and the consumer market.

Plans are already under way to compress the technology into an all-in-one sensor that could fit inside normal cameras.

The invention was the brainchild of Dr. Gil Bub, an imaging expert belonging to a group studying heart cells at Oxford University.

"What's new about this is that the picture and video are captured at the same time on the same sensor," he said.

''This is done by allowing the camera's pixels to act as if they were part of tens, or even hundreds, of individual cameras taking pictures in rapid succession during a single normal exposure.

''The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high-resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as it is, to form a regular high-res picture, or be decoded into a high-speed movie.''